A Chance Encounter in London
by Eady of Old
Summary: London -1905. It was as though she'd flipped to a page in a book too soon and read a few lines out of order in the story.


**Summary: ** It was as though she'd flipped to a page in a book too soon and read a few lines out of order in the story.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Downton Abbey, nor do I claim to.

**A/N: This is a brief oneshot written for terriejane's weekend challenge. The prompt was: _A 19 yr old Anna meets a 35 yr old Bates one day in London. _**

**Reviews are appreciated. And as always, thanks to John for historical and military expertise. :) **

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><p><em>London - 1905<em>

She made haste along the bustling city street, as intent on her destination as she was on not being run over by the crush of people which seemed intent on making her late. Lady Mary had sent her on a last minute errand to pick up a parcel at one of the shops, but she'd had trouble finding the store and now she worried about getting back in time to help her and Lady Edith dress for dinner. While Anna liked both girls, and she very much enjoyed the opportunity to take care of them and learn skills to one day be a proper lady's maid in addition to all her usual duties around the house, their time in London always seemed more hurried than in Yorkshire.

The parcel was more of an awkward burden than a heavy one, although Anna counted herself as rather strong for a girl her age. She'd grown up on a farm, after all, and she'd been working as a maid for several years besides. She was used to hard work. And because her brother had often teased her growing up about being so short and scrawny, she had always striven to prove herself. Thus, she wrestled the parcel with an expression of grim determination.

As she crossed the cobblestone street, careful to avoid the leavings of horses as much as the horses themselves, Anna was not quite paying attention as she stepped onto the opposite curb and ran straight into another pedestrian. The other participant in the collision seemed equally preoccupied, and they both stumbled backward, her into the street and he onto the sidewalk. But before Anna could fall under the wheels of a swift moving buggy, the man's hand shot out to grab her arm, steady her, and pull her back onto the sidewalk.

"I'm terribly sorry," Anna said automatically. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Nor was I," the man remarked with a chuckle. She had to look up at him, and as she did so she took in his crisp, white uniform jacket with three chevrons edged in blue on the right sleeve. His forage cap was banded with crimson and gave his already considerable height an extra boost, and Anna noticed that his well trimmed mustache was the same dark, almost black color as his hair. "Are you quite all right?" the soldier asked.

"Yes, thank you," she responded, but as she shifted the parcel in her arms, she suddenly felt light headed. Perhaps hurrying about at a half jog like a horse under load while strung up in an overly tight corset hadn't been the best idea...

For a moment, her vision dimmed and went was overtaken with blackness, although the sounds of the street stayed with her, suddenly accompanied by the feel of strong arms grabbing her up before she hit the hard ground. Anna only lost her senses for a few seconds, but an eternity passed in that brief time. When she opened her eyes, she felt as though she'd slept for hours, as though days had passed and the earth had shifted on its axis. Disoriented, she looked up at the man she'd run into, the man who had caught her.

"Are you all right?" the soldier asked, his face awash with concern.

"I think so."

He kept one arm around her as he righted her back to her feet, taking great care not to touch her more than absolutely necessary. The moment she was once more stable and under her own power, he withdrew himself. Amazing, she had not dropped the package. Anna expected to feel uncomfortable and embarrassed to have been touched by a complete stranger, but she could tell that his intentions were completely untoward.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you," she said, her eyes focusing on his uniform as she tried not to sway on her feet. Anna felt almost blinded by it. She knew a little about the army because her employer, Lord Grantham, had served in Africa. Sometimes Mrs. Hughes and Mr. Carson would talk about the wars overseas in the servants' hall. And of course, she'd seen soldiers while she was in London. Earlier in the week she had purposefully taken a detour on one of her errands so she could watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. But she'd had no occasion to speak to any of the soldiers, both from not having run into one before so casually, and because men in general were a species young housemaids were not to consort with.

"No trouble, miss," he said kindly, dipping his head as he granted her a smile, something which despite his kindly appearance seemed a rare gift from this man.

Anna found herself blushing as she looked away. But something drew her gaze back to him, something about the softness in his expression or the way he managed to bend down slightly so he did not quite tower over her. His eyes had a slightly unfocused look to them, as though they hid some deep pain which she could never understand. They were the eyes of a stranger, and yet she felt a connection with this man somehow, as though they shared a common past. Or a common future.

"Do you need help with that?" he asked her, gesturing to her burdensome parcel.

Automatically, she stated, "No, I have it, thank you."

"I could carry it for you if you like. It would be no trouble."

The offer sounded genuine enough, although Anna knew to take care. Soldiers were not always the best sort and if she were seen speaking one, even innocently enough as to take the offer of assistance, it might reflect poorly on her. She'd seen some of the other housemaids flirt with men from the village back at Downton, and Mrs. Hughes always gave them disapproving scowls.

"No, thank you. I can manage quite well."

"Of course."

Anna's heart clenched as she saw a momentary disappointment flash across the soldier's face, as though she had interrupted a moment of escape for him in which he could be outside his own life for an instant. Rather than a soldier, he could be but an ordinary gentleman, the type to assist exhausted young ladies with their burdens. But he was not a gentleman and she was not a lady., although Anna understood the longing for that different life. She felt the same sometimes, wanting to be something other than a housemaid, in service for her lifetime unless she found herself a husband.

The man was older than her, at least ten or fifteen years by the lifetime of experience she could read in the set of his shoulders alone. Not a wonderful or perfect life, she imagined, but not an ordinary one like hers either. Anna wished she could ask the soldier about himself, to find out his story and to know why he looked so very sad. But the time and circumstances were wrong. It was as though she'd flipped to a page in a book too soon and read a few lines ahead of their place in the story.

"I best get on," she said with a measure of regret.

"Of course." He dipped his head in acknowledgment. "Good day, and please take care not to faint again," he teased.

She grinned at him in return. "I'll try."

As she ducked past him, she caught the faintest hint of an odor, one she thought recognized. Alcohol, perhaps? She discounted it without much thought.

As Anna set forth down the sidewalk, her parcel shifted to a more comfortable position in her grip, Anna found that the smile would not fade from her face, nor the sudden warmth she felt on her cheeks and neck. At the edge of the block, she turned to see if she could catch a glimpse of the solider one last time. She saw him standing just as she'd left him, staring after her. Their gazes held for but a moment before he turned away and began moving in the opposite direction.

The area was congested, but she could make out between gaps in the crowd that he walked with a slight limp. It was barely noticeable, but Anna cataloged the observation as readily as she did every other detail about the man. She had no way to describe her feelings at that moment, having had no comparable experiences in the past. While later she might have deemed herself to have taken a fancy to the soldier, a more adult part of the housemaid would have chastised herself that she could not fancy a man she'd known all of half a minute.

And yet, all of the books she read by lamplight in the late hours when she should have been sleeping described what it meant to fall in love at first sight. It was a lightening bolt of sudden understanding and kinship, a passionate feeling of both love and wanting that was undeniable. Anna knew she had never experienced an emotion that strongly, not even in face of this tall, handsome soldier. Perhaps not love, but she had certainly felt something. She probed the emotion, weighing and considering it before packing it away deep in her heart, something to be pulled out and considered later.

Suddenly reminded of the time, Anna pushed the moment to the back of her mind as she set off with renewed speed. Lady Mary would be cross with her for being late with the package. And even once she got the girls sorted, she had far too much work to do at the London house to stand about idly on street corners mooning over a man she would never see again.


End file.
